This is according to the management of the mobile communications company in the central region which includes the Free State and the Northern Cape during a briefing in Bloemfontein on Tuesday, 4 February. The Vodacom Group released its third-quarter financial results, on the same day, revealing revenue is up by 6,6% year-on-year. In South Africa alone, Vodacom is said to have added 484 000 customers, thanks in part to their summer campaign. Managing Executive in the region, Mamello Selamolela, speaks on customised pricing, which is how the company managed to slash those prickly data prices.

Vodacom continues to “drive the cost to communicate agenda”. In a few months, a few, more developments in line with this agenda will come to the fore says Selamolela. The Managing Executive further provided some insight into their *123# campaign, which offers customised pricing using “machine learning, big data, advanced analytics to offer customers the best possible price for a particular bundle”.

In December 2019, the Competition Commission found in their report, that data prices in the country are exorbitant and recommended that service providers reduce the price of data by up to 50 percent within two months or face prosecution. This deadline has since been extended by an extra month. Selamolela says this is to enable the providers to iron out some of the contentious issues in the Comp Com report.

“The issue is complex” reveals the Managing Executive. She says first off, the Competition Commission’s report on data pricing is not aligned with the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa’s (Icasa’s) report on the same matter. A second issue is a delay in spectrum allocation by the government. Spectrum refers to the radio frequencies used for communication over airwaves by radio, television and the mobile telephone industry. The allocation of new spectrum in South Africa reportedly hasn’t happened in years, resulting in this present predicament, mobile operators find themselves in.

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